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08/02/02

Frank's film tip: Chris Ver Wiel's "Who Is Cletis Tout?" suffers from more than an identity crisis in this subpar comedy crime caper

As a general rule, most comedy crime capers are convoluted in nature. But with that being said, there's also a certain charm to this kind of built-in concept. In writer-director Chris Ver Wiel's weak-legged "Who Is Cletis Tout?", an underworld farce dealing in gangsters and mistaken identity, we certainly experience the convolution. But there's something more false to this criminally cut-up of a flick besides the lead character brandishing a phony moniker.

Ver Wiel accomplishes nothing more than serving up the same trademark cliches' in an exhausted genre that peters out because of these very familiar conventional devices. Whereas the extremely competent hitman films such as "Pulp Fiction" and "Get Shorty" resonate a sardonic verve to their caustic purpose for existing, "Who Is Cletis Tout?" is an inexpressible and drab wannabe looking for that exact niche. Thus, this crime thriller's gunplay of cheeky suspense subsequently ends up shooting blanks of empty giddiness.

Christian Slater plays a mischievous escaped convict named Finch who agrees to take on the persona of a man by the name of Cletis Tout. The trouble with "borrowing" the name of this Tout character has grave consequences since this now-deceased guy has had a colorful past. You see, the real Cletis Tout was a riff raffish journalist looking to put the stronghold on the mob until his questionable tactics got him killed. And now thanks to a spunky coroner (Billy Connolly), both Finch and his sidekick Micah (Richard Dreyfuss) attained new identities that could be more harmful than helpful.

Among the static that Slater's escapee has to endure just to assume this false identity includes ducking and dodging the authorities and avoiding a vintage Hollywood star-struck hitman Critical Jim (Tim Allen) out to sprinkle some bullets in the troubled buttocks of the masquerading misfit known as Cletis Tout. As if to complicate things already, thrown in for a welcomed distraction is Micah's desirable daughter Tess (Portia de Rossi).

"Who Is Cletis Tout?" feels awfully strained and the quirky tone simply doesn't register because the material is slight and spiritless. The filmmakers, for some gaudy reason, seem to refer to the name Cletis Tout as if it's some sort of inside joke or desired catchphrase. The characters, excluding Connelly's laughable coroner, are one-note Johnnies looking for attention to stimulate the staid proceedings taking place. Portia de Rossi is as lovely as a porcelain dish but that's unfortunately her only main function. Basically, this film is ponderous and ridiculously disposable.

It's safe to say that no one will confuse "Who Is Cletis Tout?" with a blueprint associated with Quentin Tarantino or Elmore Leonard. Misguided and underdeveloped, this film mockishly asks who is Cletis Tout? At that point, one should fire back with resounding forcefulness, "who knows and who really cares?"

Frank rates this film: stars